Method of repairing a rail joint



Dec. 8,1936. G. LANGFORD METHOD OF REPAIRING A RAIL JOINT 'iled Jan. 11, 1936 3 Sheets-Sheet l G. LANGFORD METHOD OF REPAIRING A RAIL JOINT Dec. 8, 1936.

Filed Jan. 11, 1936 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Dec. 8, 1936.

' G. LANGFORD METHOD OF REPAIRING A RAIL JOINT 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Jan. 11, 1936 Patented Dec. 8, 1936 UNITED ",STATES' PATENT, OFFICE I 10 Claims.

My invention pertains to rail joints, and more particularly to a method of repairing worn rail joints in a railway track. Where two rail ends abut each othentwo joint bars are used, oneon each side of the rafl ends, to form a joint. The

contact surfaces of the bars and rail ends wear under trafllc and the joint becomes loose, making the track rough. My invention has as its main object a cure for loose joints and track roughness.

Another object is maintenance of emciency in the joint by prevention of the trouble which occasions joint roughness.

Another object is a repair of the joint in track without removing the bars from the rail ends,

or at least by removing them for so short a time as not to interrupt nor interfere with train service. I

Another object is to effect a repair of the joint with a minimum expenditure of vmaterial,

. time and labor.

Still another object is to convert a bar while in track, into a different type of bar.

These and other objects and advantages will be understood by thoseskilled in the art, from the following description and accompanying drawings, in which:

' Fig. l is a side view of a worn rail joint;

Fig. 2 is the central portion of the joint 01. Fig. 1 with the bar removed, in side view;

Fig. 3 is Fig. 2 including the central portion of a shaped bar;

Fig. 4 is an end view of an angle form of bar illustrating a simple mechanical principle attending its deflection; v

,. Fig. 5 is an end view of an angle bar in a worn joint, applying the principle of Fig. 3;

Figs. 6 and 7 are end views of bars in worn joints, illustrating my invention;

Fig. 8 is a plan of Fig. 6, showing the rail ends in section;

Fig. 9 is a plan and Fig. 10 an end view of a bar showing a variation of my invention;

Fig. 11 and Fig. 12 are end views of a joint showing particular forms of my invention;

Fig. 18 illustrates another form of my invention.

Those familiar with. rail joints and their performance in track understand how small in I of a; joint.

between bar and rail should not be overthree one-thousandths of an inch it the joint is to 55 be considered as first class and suitable 101' main line heavyduty track. This represents an extremely small amount of wear which is turthermore limited to only the middle six inches or so of the joint. This wear which occurs on the fishing surfaces oi both bar and rail is so 5 small that joint users are very reluctant to remove the bar and replace it with a new one, or even to repair the old one until its wear becomes quite noticeable. But by that time, fishing surface wear and vertical play have so pro- 10 greased that the tops of the rail ends may have become battered and damaged, and the joint is low, making rough riding track;

It is this smallness of joint wear producing injurious effects that is so discouraging to rail 15 joint users. A bar may not have lost half of one per cent of its weight by wear, and yet it no longer makes a first class joint.

Although varying greatly with amount, speed, frequency of train loads and other conditions, it may be stated broadly that a new, well-fitted joint will not continue as efiicient and first class for much more than two years. In that time, slight play between bar and rail results in fishing surface wear occurring mostly at the top 25 central portion of the bar. Supposedly, this wear is taken up by tightening the bolts, and some of it is. But if the bar be of heavy and laterally rigid construction, lack of wear at the ends as compared with the center will prevent 3o drawing in the center of the bar to take up central wear. The bar must be forcibly bent in at center by the center bolts, and the bolts are not strong enough to do this in the case of laterally rigid bars. 35

Wear and vertical play develop until the joint is no longer first class. The rail ends are damaged at their tops, and the trouble, once started, proceeds with increasing rapidity, until finally extensive repair becomes necessary. '40

It is a common practice at present to repair a badly worn joint with shims and welded patches to avoid expensive replacements involving new rails and new bars. The matter of efllcient joint maintenance and repair has be- 45 come a serious problem for railway men, all because of an absurdly small amount of wear unfortunately concentrated on a small length of the joint. Railway tracks are filled with bars in all stages of wear and many of them are being repaired by shimming and patching. The development of acetylene and. electric welding has progressed to such an extent that torch cutting, welding and heating are now used very extensively in track maintenance. A common practice is to heat up'the rail ends and bars and weld new metal on to the bars or rail ends or both, then to heat-treat the joint by quenching after welding. But the welding on of new metal is a laborious undertaking. Although such repairs are done in track or close by, nevertheless much time, labor and material is involved, and even when well done it is not a first class job. In many cases the worn bar has new metal welded on to its top, centrally worn fishing surface, this being ground to a smooth surface after welding. But this does not by any means insure an accurate fit of the welded fishing surface of the bar to the worn fishing surface of the rail ends. At best it is only an approximation. From my observations, it appears as an heroic effort to improve a bad track condition of long continuation.

The purpose of my invention is to provide a method so inexpensive and so simple that railway engineers will not hesitate to use it before the joint has worn to a point of inefiiciency, and long before it reaches a stage requiring heroic treatment. Instead of waiting six years or more and allowing the joint to be inefficient for a large part of that time, the joint may receive mild treatment every two years or so with the idea of keeping it efficient at all times. Instead of a corps of welders, .gaugers, grinders and section men, I employ the ordinary section crew and only one man familiar with the use of a gas or electric heating torch.

Inasmuch as the destructive joint weanis in very small amount and concentrated mostly at the top six inches or so of fishing contact between the bar and the rail ends, my object is to take up this short central wear by forcing the bar in at center. As we know, the lateral rigidity of the bar resists this. The relatively unworn ends will not move in, and they prevent the center of the bar from moving in. If the center could be moved in independently of the ends, the central fit would be as tight as before it becomes worn and the efliciency of the joint would be maintained.

The central portion of the bar cannot be bent in when cold, but it can be heated with a torch to a temperature at which it can be bent in quite readily. When heated to a semi-plastic state, the center will be bent in when the center bolts are tightened, and if necessary, a few blows of a spike-maul may be added to' help bend it. The heated bar may then be quenched to give it any desired hardness, the bolts being made tight when the joint is cooled.

, This is a simple and eifective method, much less involved than the practice of welding and shimming, and a railway engineer would not hesitate to employ it with some frequency instead of waiting until the joint wear has progressed to a point damaging to the rails. Being heated to a semi-plastic state, the worn top fishing surface of the bar shapes itself to the corresponding worn fishing surface of the rail ends. The present practice of welding and shimming' cannot attain such an accuracy of fit. By my method the worn bar is literally moulded in to it the worn rails.

This method of repairing a worn rail joint in .track is a continuation and variation of the method of my co-pending U. S. application for Letters Patent, filed December 5, 1935, Serial No. 53,035, wherein portions of an angle form of bar are deflected, the means used being in principle similar to the present method of repairing a worn joint in track. But while the present method treats an angle form of bar very similarly to the method of my co-pending application referred to, it more broadly applies to any type of bar heated and forced in at center to take up central wear. My invention is not-primarily intended to repair a worn joint. Its simplicity encourages its application before the joint is worn beyond its point of efficiency. It is a method of maintaining rather than repairing a joint while in service.

Its simplicity does not detract from its usefulness as has been explained; also as a method it is novel. 7

In the prior art, a worn rail joint is repaired in several ways. Sometimes the worn rail ends are cut off and new bars are used in place of the old ones, or the old ones are reformed to their original unworn state and re-applied to the sawed rails. Instead of cutting off the worn rail ends, it is now more common to reform the worn bars to increased fishing height at the center at least to compensate for the increased worn fishing height of the rail ends. In a straight bar, the increased fishing height may be only at the center portion. In an incurved bar this increased height may extend to the end portions also. But in every case, the fishing height of the worn bar is raised at its central portion. My invention does not necessitate raising the worn fishingheight. The bar is merely bent in at center, and that insures a central fit. In its cold state, the bar cannot be bent in by the center bolts on the short central wear length, but it can be bent in when hot. As far as I know such a method of maintaining a tight central fit of a joint in service has never been disclosed in the prior art.

Fig. 1 is a side view of a badly worn rail joint. I represents the rail ends, and 2, the bar, there being a second bar on the other side of the rail ends to complete the joint. In this worn joint, using the angle type of bar, the tops of the rail ends are depressed for a length a-b and there is some batter near the extreme ends of the rails; The top fishing surfaces of the bar and the rails are worn for a length d-e at the central portion of the joint, although the greatest wear is for a shorter length This length of greatest wear, in general, approximates six inches. The vertical play between bar and rail fishing contact is an amount f-g. The joint bolts are assumed to be tight in Fig. 1.

It has been the custom to replace the worn bar with a new one and then to weld metal on to the tops of the rail ends in amount a-b-c, this metal being welded on after thebar is bolted tight to the rail ends.

It is now known that an angle form of bar,

"as it wears and is bent in at center, is liable to pull the rail ends down and make the joint low. Fig. 2 is a side view of the center portion of Fig. 1 with the worn angle bar removed. As

can be seen, the rail ends have risen so that the amount of metal to be'welded on to their tops to insure a level surface, is much less in length and volume than in Fig. 1. However with this reduced top welding, the joint will still be low under load unless the bar used upon the worn rail ends is particularly shaped. V

Fig. 3 represents the worn rail ends of Fig. 2, to which a; shaped bar 2 has been applied. This bar is of increased rail fishing height at its center portion, in amount to compensate for the worn increased fishing height of the rail ends. This top central fit pushes the rail ends up and on to the tops of the rail ends is further reduced maul at E or G or both.

. July 22, 1930.

Practically all joint bars have provision for wear takeup. As wear occurs, the joint is supposed to be kept tight at center by keeping the bolts tight. The presumption is that tightening the bolts will draw the entire bar closer to the rails.

But the greatest wear in a joint is confined to a six inch or so length of its center portion at the top. The nine inches or so at each end of a- 24 inch bar do not wear much and cannot be drawn in. This end resistance prevents the center portion of the bar from being drawn in on such a short span as six inches of central length. Furthermore, in the case,of an angle type of bar, if its center could be drawn in, it would also move downward pulling the rail ends downward as in Fig. 1.

This peculiar behavior of the angle form is the result of a simple mechanical principle shown in Fig. 4. This is an angle form under conditions of free bending, the angle being sup-' ported at its ends. If it be deflected at its middle by the vertical load A, the resultant deflection at its middle will not be all vertically downward. It bends in as it bends down, in the direction of the arrow C, the top k-l of the angle moving down and in to k'l'. If theloadbe applied horizontally at B, the result is the same. Whether the middle of the angle be deflected downwardly or inwardly it deflects downwardly and inwardly. Under conditions of free bending, an angle form deflects in no other way.

Fig. 5 is an end view of a worn rail joint, in

which an angle form of joint bar follows the same principle illustrated in Fig. 4. As the joint wears at-its top central portion and is bent in at center by center bolt tension 13 to take up wear, the central portion of the bar bends slightly downward as it is bent inward.- The top fishing surface 7ol of the bar should move to Ic--Z' at center to take up the wear but because of its diagonal deflection, it moves instead to le -Z and the top wear is not taken up. The bottom fishing surface mn moves inwardly and downwardly to m'-n, and this forces the extreme ends of the rails downward, so that viewed from the side,-, the rail ends droop as shown in Fig. 1. Evidently the bar strongly resists any opposition to its tendency to bend downwardly at center as it is bent inwardly.

Now if the extreme ends of the rails be held vertically rigid, they will more strongly resist the tendency of the angle bar to force them downward. And if the central portion of the forced inward by center bolt tension, the result as in Fig 5 will then be changed to that of Fig.\6.

In Fig. 6, the extreme ends of the rails are held" vertically rigid against downward deflection! In a track, this may be accomplished by a tli ilck jack furnishing support beneatfi as represented by the arrows D. The ceniral partion of gthebar is heated and then pulled in forcibly by the center bolts at B. The bar may be further urged in at center by blows of a um I. f-jfi This is less than in- Fig. 2, and "very much less than shown at 'ai-b-c in Fig. 1. This practice illustrated by Fig. 3 is disclosed in my Reissue Patent No. 17,743, reissued As the rail ends are rigid; and the center portion of the heated bar, yielding, the tendency It, is bent horizontally inward, and in some cases it may be bent slightly upward if desired;

The top central wear being usually greater,

than the bottom central wear, as the central portion of the bar is forced inward, its bottom surface will contact the corresponding bottom surface of the rail joint. If the rail ends be held rigidly against downwarddeflection, the bottom fishing surface of the-bar'must then ride slightly upward on the'bottominclined surface of the rail as the bar .is drawn further inward, this slight upward movement of the bar at center continuing until the top central fishing sur- "toeless bar. There is no tendency to diagonal deflection as in the angle form, and so there are no such difficulties to overcome, of the nature disclosed in Figures 5 and6.

Fig. 8 is a plan of Fig. 7 with the rail head removed so as to give a'j clear top view of the two bars 2. The central portion of the bar t-a' has been heated and forced inward to take up wear and make a. tight fit; The center bolts CB may be used to assist in thisinward movement of the central portionof the bar. The greatest resistance to-the bars central inward movement is found at about d-i which may be considered. as horizontal supports at each end of the short central span i-i, on'which length of span the central length i-j of the bar must be bent in.

If the bar be heated up to at least a semi-plastic.

state for the two lengths, fir-4' and 7-e of each bar, not only may length i--7' of the bar be bent in, but the topflshing surface of the bar will yield more readily and allow length 13-4 to-bend in. This is merely a preferred treatment. The bar may be heated in any manner which permits its central portion to be forced inward on the short central span to take up central wear. .The bar may be removed from the joint to be heated .and partially shaped provided its final fitting is. made to the rails by bolt tension or otherwise while the part of the bar to be deflected is heated to at least a semi-plastic state. In some cases, the head member only may be heated, with pressure applied at E to force its center portion inward. Similarly the web or bottom members may be heated and force applied at B and G respectively to secure bending in at center. This done, the heated bars or rail ends or both may be quenched or otherwise heattreated.

Evidently my invention is susceptible to wide variation and I do not wish to be limited to any particular use of it as long as I keep within its scope. Any or all three members of a bar may have a portion heated and then forced in to fit the rails, the latter serving as dies. Any portion of a bars length may. be-so treated.

In Fig. 9, which is a top. view of a bar, the central portion has been heated and forced in to fit the rails. In addition to this, intermediate lengths F of the top fishing surface have been forced outward or downward or both. This may be done lay-heating the top memberat least for a length F, inserting a shim of length Ebetween the top of the bar and the under side of the rail for downward deflection of thebar is overcome.

head as shown in Fig. 10 and then forcing the bar inward. The shim L in Fig. 10 will cause the top surface of the bar at F tofbe depressed or deflected outwardly or both. When the shim is removed later, there will be rail clearance at F on each side of the central portion of the joint as shown in Fig. 10, the depthof clearance being M in Fig. 10.

In 11, thetop member only of the bar may be heatedand forced inward so that its top inner filletwill be in rail fillet contact. In Fig. 12 the bottom member is forced inward. Many other variations of method may be cited but this is thought unnecessary. Considered broadly, my invention is a method of maintaining the tight central fit essential to a first class joint. The central portion of the bar is heated and forced into a. fit with the rails, the latter serving the p p se of a die to secure accuracy of fit. The simplicity of the method permits its use not primarily for the repair of a worn out joint but for the maintenance of a first class joint, although it may serve both'purposes. It is believed that its chief value is in maintenance as a part of the attention given to a track at intervals by an ordinary -section crew which levels up ties, tightens. up joint bolts, etc. and which may now maintain the joints in a state of high efiiciency by keeping their central portions tight.

A powerful clamp may be used as in Fig. 13 to force inward deflection of portions of one of the members of a pair of bars in a joint or by deflection of portions of two or all three members of the bars. The average track bolt is only about oneinch in its smallest diameter, also its position may not be just where presure is desired. In Fig. 13 a clampH and screw I can be made of any desired strengths, so as to apply suitable pressure at J and K; in fact, a clamp maybe made strong enough to bend in a portion of the bar without even heatingdt, although if heated, the. bar would be fitted better to the. rail, and there would be less chance of injuriously strainingitinthecaseofashortsharpbend. Furthermore a bar is somewhat springy, and if forced in cold by a clamp, it would spring back slightly, throwing undue strain upon the joint bolts. Although in some cases portions of a bar might be deflecfed cold, heating the baris desirable if for no other reason than to avoid injuriou's strains in the bar that might result from cold bending. laterally r gid or hardened bars would be particularly susceptible to objectionable strain if bent coldQand it is'to them that my invention is preferablydlrected.

The spring-back which is liable to occur in cold bending, may be,overcome by inserting a shim on each side of the part of the bar which is to be bent in, between afishing surface of the bar and of the rails. These could be inserted at the topor bottom or both. Their thickness would be an amount equal to the amount of ,efi'ective rail fishing height lost at the bent-importion of the bar as it springs back when the bending pressure is released. After bending, the shims may be removed, and when the joint bolts are tlghtened up, the fit of the bent-inportionofthebartotherailswillbe. about right. The desired result may be attained in some other manner. Whether or not sliimsareusedinoonjlmctionwithbendlng, the

rail. ends serve as dies to shapea portlon of the barsoastofittheraila.

Mymethodmaybeusedtofitabartotworail ends of the same cross-section, also it may be used to fit a compromise bar to two rails of diiferent section. In the latter case, the bar would first be shaped to near its compromise dimensions and then finished by bending in a portion or portions to fit the rail ends. Preferably the bar would be heated and then be bent in by the joint bolts, and by any other pressure means that may' be found necessary. As in the case of two rail ends of one section, each of the two bars may be treated individually, one bar -holding the rail ends in alignment while the other bar is being heated and fitted.

The fitting. of each individual bar to the two particular rail ends with which it is to be combined to form a joint is very desirable, but heretofore there has been no practical method di'sclosed of doing this. My invention permits of moulding a bar to fit with the two rail ends to which it is applied. This would permit of better fitting of new bars to new or unworn rail ends. Railsand joint bars are rolled from hot steel billets. In the fitting of a bar to a rail, not much toleration is permitted, and there is only such toleration as would make the fit of bar to rail a trifie tight, no looseness being permitted. Even this results in some variation. The fishing heights of one rail end is often a bit higher or lower than that of the adjacent rail end, and there are other slight variations. The bar itself sometimes contains irregularities. It may be not quite straight. Sometimes hot punchingcauses slight swellings on a. fishing surface over the bolt holes. Any hot working of the bar may result in irregularities. The bars and rails made separately, although rolled closely to dimensions, will not fit together as accurately as they would if their fitting together werea final step in manufacture, whereby a pair of bars is pressed to a fit with the two particular rail ends to which the bars are applied, the rail ends themselves, either worn or unworn, serving as finishing dies. With sufiicient pressure, this work may be done cold as well as hot. The screw clamp of Fig. 13 may be in the form of a hydraulic jack which for convenience of operation may be mounted on a' small track car. By these and other means for applying pressure in addition to joint bolt pressure, the bars may be fitted closely and accurately to the rail ends, either hot or cold, particularly when as a rule, the amounts of deflections or displacements are small.

We know .that in a rail joint with all bolts tight, if there are ten one-thousandths of an inch vertical play between bar and. rail under direct load, then the jointis not first class for main line, heavy duty track. .'I'o take up this play, the center portion ,of the bar need be bent in only twenty one-thousandths of an inch, which is less than of an inch inward deflection .in a four hole bar's 24 inch length. The

fishing surfaces of modern standard rails are inclined in a ratio of 4 to 1 at top and bottom. To take up ten one-thousandths of an inch play on only one of the top and bottom surfaces, the bar would have to be moved ,in forty onethousandths of an inch. However, as take-up in small amount may-be applied to both,the top and bottom fishing surfaces, the sum of whose angularity is only 2 to 1,-then the bar need be moved inward only twenty one-thousandths of an inch. But in a.laterally rigid .har, twenty one-thousandths of an inch deflection cannot be secured by bolt tension on the short six inches or so length of central wear. My invention per.

"mas the at to beforcibly bent in. Instead of shi'mming and patching; of replacing the worn bar with a new one; or of reforming the worn bar in press and dies to fit the worn rail ends, portions of the bar are forced inward to fit the rail ends. Such a method permits of maintaining or repairing a rail joint while it is in service.

In its broadest aspect, my invention comprises the better fitting of a worn bar in a joint by deflecting a portion or portions of one or all of its three members to secure a proper fit to the rails,.the latter serving as a die or mould. Pref erably a part of the bar is heated to at least a semi-plastic state to better mould it to the rails and to avoid setting up injurious strains in it, as might result from cold bending. The worn central portion of abar is heated and bent in to take up central. wear and secure a tight central fit. In an angle form of bar the rail ends may be raised and maintained in that position so as to encourage slight upward deflections of the bar at center as it is moulded in to the rails. The rail ends also may be heated if desired to assist in removing their droop. When the bar is fitted, metal may be welded onto the tops of the rail ends to securea longitudinally level surface. The bar itself may have metal welded onto it, provided its final fitting to the rail ends is accompanied by a deflection of the bar and fitting to the rail ends under pressure. The pressure which deflects a portion of a bar and moulds it to the rail ends may vary considerably. If sufflcient, it may be applied to the bar cold, but it is far more desirable to apply'the pressure to heated portions of the bar. This pressure may be had from the joint bolts; from blows of a maul; or from any source or in any manner that deflects a portion of abar so as to fit it to the rail ends. Heat treatment of the bars or rail ends or both may be made a part of my method. Although the main object is .to bend the central portion of a bar in to the rails to make the joint tight-at center, the intermediate or end portions of a bar may be deflected inward or outward, using the rail ends as dies; and there may be other variations of fitting.

It can be seen that my invention comprises a forcible fitting of a bar to the two particular rail ends with which it is to be. used in track, as distinguished from fitting it in a die or to a perfect rail used as a die. The latter might insure an accurate fit of the bar section to the perfect rail but not to slightly imperfect or worn rails. Where possible, the bar is re-fitted to the same side of the rail ends where it was placed originally. In some cases however, I find it advisabl'e in a worn joint to change the two bars around, placing one on the side the other had been. This variation is particularly applicable to one-way track where the wear in one longitudinal half of the joint differs considerably from the wear in the other half. In such case, al though the bars are refitted to the same rail ends to which they were originally applied, they have changed sides. often used advantageously to avoid sharp inbending of the bar at onlyone half of its center portion. If the bars are forced in hot or cold which comprises heating the bar to at least a This arrangement may be.

portion of the bar to tight fishing engagement with the rail ends, with means provided to defleet portions of a fishing surface on each side of the central portion of said fishing surface out of the plane of rail fishing contact.

2. The methodoi repairing a worn rail joint, comprising bars of angle type, which comprises loosening the joint bolts, raising'the rail ends and maintaining them longitudinally level on their top surface, 'then heating the bars near their center and, forcing said center portion into: tigli'tjfislii'ng engagement with the rails. 3. The ineth'od cof repairing a rail joint becomeloos at its center portion, the bars being too rigd ior deflection inward at center by center;bolt tension, which comprises applying powerful". clamping means to force the center portion of the bars inward, with means proyided to compensate for spring-back of the bar when the-pressure by said clamping means is released, so that when the joint bolts are finally made tight, the center portion of the bars will be in tight fishing engagement with the rails.

other half, consisting in changing each of the two bars to the sidepf the rail ends opposite to its original side and then forcing the two bars in at center to tight fishing engagement with the rail ends by powerful clamping means, and by center bolt tension..

5. The method of repairing a worn rail joint wherein the wear of one longitudinal half of the joint difiers substantially from the wear of the other half, consisting in unbolting the two bars, heating the center portion of each bar to at least a semi-plastic state, placing the bars back upon the rails on sidesopposite their original positions, then' forcing in the bars at center so that they are in tight rail fishing engagement at center when the joint bolts are tightened.

6. The method of repairing a worn rail joint in track, the joint bars being too rigid laterally to be drawn in at center by the center joint bolts to take up central wear, which comprises applying pressure at the central portion of the bar so as to bend said central portion inwardly .to top and bottom fishing contact with the worn fishing surfacesand worn fishing height of the rail ends.

'7. The method 'of repairing a worn rail joint in track, the joint bars being too rigid laterally to be drawn in at center by the center joint bolts to take up central wear, which comprises heating the central portion of the bar to at least a. semi-plastic state and then applying pressure at said central portion so as to bend said central portioninwardly to top andbottom contact with the worn fishing surfaces and worn fishing height of the rail ends.

8. The method of repairing a worn rail joint in track, thejoint bars being too rigid laterally to be bent fi'l by joint bolt tension to take up wear at a worn portion of the joint, which comprises applying pressure on the bar' at a worn portion thereof so as to bend said worn portion inwardly into top and bottom contact with the corresponding worn fishingsurfaces and worn fishing height of the rail ends.

9. The method 'of repairing a worn rail joint in track, thejoint bars being too rigid laterally to be bent in by joint bolt tension to take up fishing surface wear at a portion of one at least or the top and bottom members of the bar, the bar at aworn portion of the joint such that which comprises apply ng pressure at said porthe bar will be bent inwardly into contact with tion so as to bend said portion inwardly into the corresponding top and bottom worn fishing I fishing contact with the corresponding unsurfaces and worn fishing height of the rail ends.

changed worn fishing surface of the rail ends. said bar-being in top and bottom fishing contact 10. The method of repairing a worn rail joint with the rail ends at its center portion and end in track, the joint bars being too rigid laterally portions when the joint bolts are made tight. to be bent in by joint bolt tension to take up wear, which comprises applying pressure'upon GEORGE LANGFORD. 

